Reviews tagging 'Gore'

The Cherry Robbers by Sarai Walker

4 reviews

theinterneti's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

The entire ending of the book is revealed in the first chapter, taking away most of the mystery and suspense of the book. Also, it feels like the first chapter was written first, nothing is left to the imagination and it feels like most of the "dialogue" (the main characters backstory is revealed in a letter) was just added in from Walker's notes document. The middle of the book is great, really interesting story and imagery. It is then semi ruined by biphobia and once again, weird dialogue. Women are depicted as perfect goddesses when untouched by men, and once they are they become sullied and die. I get what Walker was going for, but it ends up as a sort of weird purity thing where the only clean and healthy relationships are the ones between women. I couldn't put the book down, so it gets 3 stars.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Self harm, Violence, Suicide, and Death

Moderate: Sexism, Gore, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Vomit and Blood

town_scar's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Just an incredible piece of work. No notes. I loved it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Sexual content, Sexism, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Gaslighting, Rape, Blood, Alcoholism, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, Stalking, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Car accident, and Alcohol

Moderate: Suicide, Homophobia, Vomit, Police brutality, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Racism, Cursing, Cancer, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Cultural appropriation, and Death

lucybbookstuff's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

Might edit this later, but just wanted to get these thoughts down. These are the complaints I held throughout reading this book:

- I might have gotten more out of it if the blurb and the opening chapter hadn't told me the whole plot. If what happened to the sisters was more of a surprise. This is part of why it felt so slow for me. It just felt like a long way to say what had already been summarized and I was waiting for something new to happen... and nothing really did.
- I somewhat wish that the Iris Chapel/Sylvia Wren perspectives had been more mixed together. It felt like an awfully long time to wait to get back to the protagonist we were first introduced to (even if they are the same person).
- While I appreciate the feminist themes and the critique of the treatment of women, I found it extremely heavy-handed and also completely mystifying. Which was maybe the point but didn't work for me. Why this family? Why Belinda's line? What was it all for? And why did it happen this way?
- Lastly, it seemed like the gun legacy and the victim ghosts were going to be a much bigger part of the story, and that was interesting to me, but it was disappointingly sidelined.

Okay that is a lot of complaints lol, this wasn't my favorite book. But despite all of that, I did find it interesting and well-written, and I was invested in Iris's story. Just wish it had been executed a bit differently.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, and Child death

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: Self harm

atsundarsingh's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I wanted so much to know what happened at every step of this novel. The fact that so much remains a mystery is both annoying and alluring. Still, the narrator has such a compelling voice, and I loved that the author's note gives further people to look for and read about, as well as partially explaining who Walker was influenced by in the creation of this work. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Lesbophobia, Sexual assault, Homophobia, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Death, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Blood, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Mental illness, Sexual content, and Confinement